


Linked Universe Artist Appreciation Project

by Dragon_of_Dreams



Category: Linked Universe - Fandom, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Artist Appreciation Project, Character Study, During LU, Featuring Artwork, Ficlet Collection, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda), angst no comfort, post-LU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-05
Updated: 2020-11-05
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:55:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27402337
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dragon_of_Dreams/pseuds/Dragon_of_Dreams
Summary: A collection of three ficlets for the Artist Appreciation Project:Precious SkySilent StormWinds of Prosperity
Relationships: Legend & Sky (Linked Universe)
Comments: 11
Kudos: 27





	1. Precious Sky

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Sky sleeps peacefully, Legend reminiscences of dreams long gone and the nightmares that still plague him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Artwork by LulligesLulu on Discord

Here he was at it again: the Hero of the Skies slept on a heap of wild grass and flowers, filled with bugs and other crawling things which would greet him with bumpy kisses on his face come sundown—or whenever he opened his eyes. Who knew when? The Hero of Legend certainly didn’t. But he knew that those annoying buggers sting, with the way he’d been scratching down his bare legs red from these bites, trying to shrug off the itch to no avail.

Yet here was Sky. His face relaxed and peaceful, undisturbed by the horrors awaiting on his cheeks as they flew around and landed on them, their mocking whispers announcing their presence. But Sky? His mind was in another world—likely of a land in the heavens and of a girl as bright as the sun. Not likely. Definitely. The way Sky curled inward in his sleep, grasping his golden harp tight as a pillow in his hands? Legend wished he’d join in… dream of a mountain crowned by a holy egg and of a girl as warm as the sunsetting skies.

But those dreams were long over, Legend would think to himself. And it stung to think about that. Something long gone. His focus shifted towards his living—and _real_ —brother right in front of him, dreaming about a living and _real_ person. A real world. Legend swatted away the little bugs away from his brother’s skin and instead allowed them to land on his. A small price to pay for a moment of restful peace—something he didn’t deserve, because he followed his selfish desire to return home rather than keeping _them_ alive. A small moment when the sky was as blue as a calm sea and the breeze the soft flaps of seagulls and a brother whose expression breathed peace into the air.

He deserved none of it. He deserved the nightmares of black clouds on a stormy night. He deserved the anger of the gods striking him down in the middle of the seas. Once. Twice. Perhaps the third time would be the charm. He deserved the harsh downpour rained on him, drowning him in the waters were no one would remember him for who he was. A mere legend—mere whispers in the wind.

But the storms weren’t here to torment him. The skies were free and swift as a seagull that glided through them, blanketing the heroes in their silence. Legend took a deep breath, relishing the caress of the wind the way her hand once did with his face.

_If only… If only I could dream of her again._

But Legend had to keep his eyes peeled open. So he kept guard, watching the precious sky bursting with the sacred sunlight. Soon, he’d think, soon he’d have to awake Sky back from his world of dreams—wake him back into the reality of their dangerous lives as heroes. Still… Legend allowed Sky to revel in all these moments of rest. Because he knew… verily, it be the nature of dreams to end.

And it burned his eyes. Sky would awaken and he’d see his sun—bright and real—in the awakened world. Legend? He never could.


	2. Silent Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the events of Linked Universe, the Hero of the Wild crashes down in the middle of a storm.
> 
> He already lost the champions. Losing his brothers was a burden he could not handle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Artwork by PrismaPup7 on Discord

  
  
Thunder roared in the heavens. Lightning split the earth apart, opening cracks of the flames from below into the seas of green. Unconquered by the rain they raged on, for as soon as they vanished lightning struck another anew. The howls of gusts swept through the storming skies, falling on the cold and numb body of the champion who conquered the wilderness as his own but now a bystander to the lingering chaos. He welcomed the darkness in his shut eyes.

Link—for he was no longer Wild in his eyes—lay on his knees, surrendered to the storm that drenched him into a quivering mess, chilled to the bone. But he didn’t care. Darkness was his new world. The void was his only ally amidst this life. The champions were gone once. So too came time for his brothers.

His family was ripped from his hands. Gone. Gone too soon. Their tight embraces and warm goodbyes a death’s anchor and cold whispers to the survivalist’s heart. A survivor. His hands clenched the grass and clawed at the dirt underneath, ripping it from the earth—the very earth that he could have been buried under a hundred years ago, a few decades ago had he lived a normal life.

This same earth swallowed the victims of the calamity. Swallowed the champions. Swallowed his blood family. Consumed his brothers—

Link screamed. Thunder snatched his voice, silencing it from the world. The screams in his heart fell on deaf ears—for the ones who would listen vanished, just like the flames that finally subsided to the rains.

All but one.

An embrace as warm as a blaze tackled his body, shielding him from the cold chills draining away his life. Link glanced up at the fiery Light, her brilliant green eyes brimmed full of life, full of energy compared to his heavy blue that sought for eternal darkness. She screamed his name, trying to shake him awake and warm him back to life.

But Link only shut his eyes. For the Light would also soon fade back to darkness, joining among the countless others that have long ceased away a hundred years ago. One among the countless people that he once glanced through the eras, forever forgotten by his time.

Eyes shut to the world. Ears deaf to her cries. Link knew he would soon join that number. Another hero forgotten by the whisks of time, just as he’d forgotten himself.


	3. Winds of Prosperity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> At the arrival of Windfall Island, Wind returns to a home prosperous from a traumatic past--and he wouldn't change it from anything in the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Artwork by Mel on Discord
> 
> Follow their instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/melanddrawings/

The winds of change gusted in the young sailor’s favor as soon as his boots landed in the familiar soft sands of his homeworld. A smile as wide as the horizon met the brilliant sun cast right above in the clear blue skies. Wind spread his arms wide and breathed in the aroma filled with salts from the Great Sea, taking in all the life that made up his world. His home.

The cheerful, brimming life of Windfall Island greeted Wind and his brothers back to the moments of peace in a safe world. Swords sheathed. Bodies relaxed. Smiles wide and bright as the daylight. Wind could almost collapse in the sands and bask in the sun while his brothers explored the wonders of the island.

But it wouldn’t be as fun. Would it?

So Wind sought for the others and toured them through the island. First stop? The bomb shop. For the Links _needed_ a few dozen bombs or so as _nothing_ could quench the thirst for adventure as treasure behind breakable walls and boulders do. Wind could attest to that!

Then Wind led to the inner town and heart of Windfall Island. A world filled with shops, open stalls, games, a café, a school, the tall windmill, the bright and diverse people—all fit together into a neat package in the middle of a grand and vast ocean. Overdue from the long travels through vast, empty seas of grass filled with islands of dangerous woods and caves, a small, tight island full of civilization was a breath of fresh sweet air among all the ocean salt.

While the more adult and relaxed members of their tight-knit brotherhood settled in the café and listened to the tales by the natives of the island, Wind settled with a game of hide-and-seek with his more curious and playful brothers and the Killer Bees—a group of younger kids that appeared tough but Wind earned their respect. And so the island-wide game began with the sailor, traveler, the champion, and even the smith.

And from the high noon until the sunset did Wind enjoy himself with the delights of being a child once again—a child carefree from the dangers of the world and breezed through the peaceful life. As if he were in Outset once again.

But it’d never be Outset. Outset was his home. But Windfall served as the grand reminder of the life the Hyrulean ancestors fought for in their most desperate hour during the flood. And it paid off—with the windmill lighthouse a beacon of light against the darkness of the ocean. Here in Windfall a safe harbor of the people of the Great Sea.

Hyrule may be gone in this era, but it didn’t matter. Wind _thrived_ in the Great Sea.


End file.
